Good Friday: Tim Horman
On Good Friday we came together for a moving service where we prayed, reflected, worshipped and heard a message from Tim.
Below you’ll find an audio and video recording of Tim’s message as well as a few questions for reflection and small group discussion.
"Why Have You Forsaken Me?": A Good Friday Reflection on Jesus' Cry from the Cross
In his Good Friday message, Tim Horman invited listeners to pause and reflect on one of the most haunting cries in all of Scripture—Jesus’ words from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). For many, this statement is shocking—not simply because it’s a cry of agony, but because it comes from the lips of God himself, God in the flesh. How can God feel abandoned by God?
Tim began by acknowledging that if Jesus were only a man, his desperate cry would make perfect sense. Human beings suffer. We experience abandonment, betrayal, fear, and anguish. And when we do, prayers like Psalm 22 or Psalm 39—prayers of lament and complaint—become natural, even expected. But when Jesus, who Christians believe to be fully God and fully man, cries out with such raw vulnerability, it creates a profound tension. What kind of God prays like this? What kind of faith embraces such darkness?
That, Tim suggested, is exactly the point. Christianity, at its core, is not a sanitised religion. The Bible does not pretend that life is easy, or that faith means escape from suffering. In fact, Scripture is filled with brutally honest prayers—prayers where people accuse God of abandonment, plead for relief, and sit in silence. The presence of these prayers in the Bible reveals something important: God is not afraid of our honesty.
Quoting theologian Derek Kidner, Tim noted that these “accusatory” prayers are not evidence of weak faith but are actually a testimony to God’s understanding of the human condition. God includes such prayers in the Bible because he knows how people speak when they are desperate. “Have you ever prayed a prayer like that?” Tim asked. Whether it’s in the hospital room, at the funeral, during financial collapse, or in a season of heartbreak, these prayers remind us that God is not distant from our pain.
But it goes even deeper than that. God doesn’t just understand our desperation from afar—he enters into it. This is the heart of the Good Friday story. Hebrews 2 reminds us that “because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood.” Jesus didn’t come to save humanity from a distance. He came to suffer with us and for us. The word "compassion" literally means “to suffer with,” and Jesus embodies it perfectly. He experiences fear in Gethsemane. He is betrayed, humiliated, tortured, and finally abandoned. He walks into the total darkness of death—not metaphorically, but fully.
Tim pointed to Psalm 88, one of the darkest chapters in Scripture, where the psalmist declares, “Darkness is my closest friend.” Jesus’ death echoes this psalm. As darkness covers the land, Jesus takes into himself not only human pain but divine abandonment. And unlike us, who might deserve to feel far from God because of our sin or selfishness, Jesus is the only one who didn’t deserve it. He alone trusted God completely. He alone was without sin. And yet, he was the one abandoned.
Why? Because he was taking on our darkness. Tim captured it like this: “Jesus received what he didn’t deserve, so that we wouldn’t receive what we do deserve.” The cross, then, is not about a tragic end to a good man’s life—it’s about a substitution. Jesus suffered so that we would never have to be truly abandoned by God. His cry of forsakenness ensures that those who trust in him never have to utter those words themselves.
That’s the paradox of the cross. Christianity doesn’t celebrate the humiliation of Jesus because suffering is good in itself, but because through it, Jesus brings victory. “Life is pain, Highness,” Tim quoted from The Princess Bride. And the Bible doesn’t deny that. But unlike the world’s solutions—denial, distraction, or despair—Jesus meets us in pain and offers resurrection on the other side.
Fleming Rutledge once wrote, “The Son of God did not come to make good people better but to give life to the dead.” That’s what Good Friday is all about. Not self-improvement. Not moralism. But grace. Undeserved, unearned, overwhelming grace.
Tim closed with this assurance: “If Jesus didn’t give up on you at the cross, he won’t give up on you now.” The cross is the ultimate proof that even when we can’t see God, even when darkness covers the land and our souls, he is still working. He is still present. And he will carry us—not just through life’s struggles—but through death itself, into resurrection.
Discussion Questions for Small Groups
Why do you think Jesus' cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is so powerful? What does it reveal about Jesus—and about God?
Have you ever prayed a prayer that felt like Psalm 22 or Psalm 88? What was going on in your life at the time?
Tim said, “Christianity doesn’t promise an easy life. It promises a companion through the suffering.” How does this reshape your view of faith?
Reflect on the idea that Jesus received what he didn’t deserve so that we don’t have to receive what we do. How does this impact your understanding of grace?
When have you felt abandoned by God? Looking back, can you see how God was present even when it didn’t feel like it?
How might this message shape the way we respond to others who are suffering or questioning their faith?